Professional photography in the iPhone age

Recently, I heard someone ask a budding photography student why he would choose a field that is going to die out now that everyone can take his or her own photos with an iPhone.

Those of us who work with web sites, publications, ads, and other marketing materials know better: We will always need professional photographers no matter how artsy you can get with Instagram.

Just like a professionally designed website will look and function much more effectively than a cheap template where you drop in your own information, good professional photography will always look better than the collection of snaps take with your phone or iPad. Can you get some good pictures on your own that might work for your website? Absolutely. Can you yourself do an entire package of photos good enough for your company brochure, ad, or billboard? Probably not.

Image Graeme Weatherston at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As with most services, you get what you pay for. Having worked with a range of photographers over my 20+ years in writing and PR, I’ve seen the good, the bad and the downright ugly results (some of my wedding photos would fall into that category, but that’s another story…)

A talented, trained photographer is an artist and knows and understands things that you likely don’t:

How to create an interesting setting and composition for your subject (s).

How to manipulate lighting.

That you need to put a subject at ease in order to capture his or her personality.